A Discussion with Riv-Ellen Prell
Co-sponsored by Brotherhood, Prime Timers, Tzedek Committee, and Women of Mount Zion Temple
Riv-Ellen Prell, Professor Emerita of American studies at the University of Minnesota, created and co-curated an exhibit on view at the University of Minnesota’s Elmer L. Andersen Library Atrium Gallery. She will show some of the documents and materials that appear in the exhibition and lead a discussion about it at Mount Zion.
This exhibit shows the political battles that raged at the University of Minnesota from the 1930s to the early 1940s between students and administrators. The campus was divided over issues, which included racial and economic equality, opposition to war, and student rights. Racism and antisemitism were part of campus life. University administrators, with a few important exceptions, were architects of the racially segregated, publicly-financed housing on campus, and approved off-campus housing where Jews were also not welcome.
Riv-Ellen Prell is an anthropologist and past director of the Center for Jewish Studies. She has written extensively about American Jewish culture from the late 19th century to the present.